Apparatus for playing duplicate whist



(no Model.)

L. W. HEATH.

' APPARATUS FOR PLAYING DUPLICATE WHIST.

No. 561,786. Patented June 9, 1896.

B B- 7-D E 0 E m I I 3 a-- --B i I i wlmessts: INVENTOR A JW 7 77740,

71 ATTORNEY.-

UNITED STATES PATENT Fries,-

APPARATUS FOR PLAYING DUPLICATE WHIST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,786, dated June 9,1896. Application filed December 11, 1895. {Serial 1%. 571,771. (Nomodel.)

To (all whom may concern: H

Be it known that I, LEWIS \V. HEATH, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new an d useful Apparatus for Playing Duplicate W'hist, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to a new and useful apparatus designed forplaying the game of duplicate whist,and the same consists,in combinationwith raised strips, of a metallic spring secured thereto, with free endsadapted to hold the cards and retain them in place in the card-holder.

It also refers to a card-holder for holding the cards to be used inplaying duplicate 'whist, the same being composed of two wings or partshinged together, so that when the cards are in place it may be folded soas to have the appearance of an ordinary book, and can be opened so asto present a plain upper surface which sustains the cards in position.

It also consists in an apparatus or holder for cards in playingduplicate whist made in two parts and hinged together, having therequired number placed on the back side, so as to be entirely concealedwhen the leaves are opened and to be disclosed to view when the leavesare closed.

The objects of my invention are, first, to furnish a convenient methodof securing the cards in position upon the holder by means of metallicsprings having sufficient resiliency to enable the user to place thecards in position and sufficient strength to retain them securely inplace when put into the holder; second, in a holder constructed in twoparts hinged together so asto be folded or shut like an ordinary book,so that the holder when closed and placed in the case has the appearanceof a simulated book and discloses its corresponding number on whatappears to be the back of the book; third, in having the requisitenumber of the set placed upon the back so as to'be entirely concealedfrom view when the holder is open in readiness for use, and, fourth, inthe details of construction hereinafter described.

The outfit for playing duplicate whist by m y method preferably consistsof, first, decks of ordinary playing-cards, as many decks as will make agame last a moderate length of time, provided the number is a multipleof four 3 second, a series of holders, which are hereinafter described,as many in number as there are decks of playing-cards, and consequentlynumbered on the edges so as to be entirely concealed when opened; third,thirteen counters such as are in familiar use at card-tables, and,fourth, a score-sheet.

The holders being numbered and all being constructed substantiallyalike, one of them is a sample of all, and therefore the description ofone will be sufficient.

In order to assist in the description, I have provided three figures ofdrawings, in which Figure l is a plan view of my newly-inventedcard-holder opened in place to receive the cards on its upper side, oneof the spaces being filled with cards. Fig. 2 is a perspcctive view ofone of the holders closed into the form of a book, showing the back ofthe book with the number of the holder; and Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon line X X of Fig. 1.

Simila-rletters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A A represent the two wings or leaves of the card-holder, the same beinghinged together by means of the hingesG G, said hinges G G beingconstructed in the ordinary manner and being attached to thelongitudinal strips B B, which longitudinal strips are secured by glueor other suitable means to the inner edges of the wings A A.

In the example of my invention shown in the drawings 1 have shown anordinary butthinge; but any form of hinge may be used, the same beingpreferably placed so that when the wings are folded together they willnot appear on the back side or what simulates the back part of the book.

E E are transverse strips glued or otherwise suitably attached, one toeach wing, as shown in Fig. 1, and adapted to raise the springs D D asufficient distance above the face of the wings A A to allow the cardsto be slipped under the springs and thereby retained in position.

The springs D D are made of metal, preferably aflat piece, and securedat their centers to the cross-strips E, one to each strip. The free endsof the springs are preferably turned up slightly in order to facilitatethe insertion of the cards beneath the springs. Thcse springs may beattached to the crosspiece E by means of a rivet, a screw, or anywell-known means.

In Fig. l I have shown a package of cards I placed beneath one end ofthe spring D in 01 der to show the relative position of the cards to thespring when the holder is used to retain the cards in position. Theheight of the strip E should be, preferably, about that of one-fourth,of an ordinary pack of cards, so that when the cards are placed inposition the spring D will be substantially parallel with the face ofthe transverse strips E. At one end of one of the strips E, I place aletter N or a star or any other suitable means to designate what induplicate whistis usually called north. At the left of the point Inirked North is placed, preferably upon the spring D, the Word Lead, inorder to show in which direction the lead is to begin, the other holdersto be each provided with a similar mark indicating where the leadbegins.

In playing what is ordinarily known as the original hands thecardholders might well be placed upon the card-table so that thedosignator will point toward the north. Thus placed the strip E of theframe, which, as

ign in north, and which I have called the design rting-arm, will in aseries of any number of hands played be situated at the north.

In the holders numbered on the back side, as above described, 1, 5, 9,13, and 17, the said des gnating-word Lead will lie to the cast; but inthe holders numbered 2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 the said designating-word Leadwill lie to the south. In the holders numbered 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19 thesaid designatingword Lead will lie to the west, and in the holdersnumbered 4:, 8, 12, 16, and 20 the said designating-word Lead will lieto the north.

The game of duplicate whist is now so Well understood that its methodneed not here be pointed out in greater detail.

When four persons are playing as partners at the table, a holderconstructed in accordance with my invention is placed in the center sothat the designating-strip points to the north. The dealer is the personfacing the designating-arm, and the leader will be the person next tohim at his left in whist order. The cards of each player are playedimmediately in front of him. The cards of each trick are face downwardwhen the trick is completed, and the partners score to themselves onefor each trick taken. hen the hand is finished, the fifty-two cards ofthe deck lie in four packages before each player, facing downward. Eachplayer places his own package on the holder at his right heneath thefree end of the spring, and the holder is thus furnished with its fourpackages, returned to the case reversed or laid al ove stated, isprovided with a mark to desaside. Like play proceeds as to the otherpackages and as to the otherholders intended to be used, so that whenthe origii vl play ends each of the twenty (more or le holdore isfurnished with four packages of cards at rest in the four positionsbeneath the four free ends of the springs, each pacl :ge being theseparate thirteen cards which each player has played in his hand. Alltheholders may then be placed in the casein 1 everse order. At the endof each hand a so re-card is used, and in the vertical column, headedOriginal play, in the line corresponding in number with the number foundon the back of the holders when closed, is entered the number of trickswhich each side took. The card which was the trump in each hand must ofcourse be preserved. This may be done either by facing that carddifierently from its fellows or by writing the suit and size of thetrump-card upon a separate card and slip ping it in the hand where thetrump-card lies, or by prior agreement that a certain suit shall betrump during the entire game.

In practice I desire to have a case simulating a small bookcase andadapted to receive the number of holders to be used-say twenty, in whichcase when these holders are folded and placed in it, it would simulate asmall bookcase having twenty volumes of small books, and instead of pling the holders in a pile they may be folded and placed in the case,the back first, so that nothing but the edges or fronts of the simulatedbook can be seen, thereby concealing e t rely the numbers on the back ofthe holders. r r r r i i The duplicate play is thus n n god, it be ingpremised that the player 1 wintain the same position at the table whichthey occu* pied in the original play: Any one of the card-suppliedholders is taken from the case and placed upon the table with thedesignating-strip pointing not to the north, but to the east, or, ifpreferred, indifferently to the east or the west. By this means thecards which the north and south players use in the original play areshifted one-quarter of a circle around the table and fall to theiropponents, and the cards which the east and west players use in theoriginal play are shifted onequarter of a circle around the table andfall to their opponents. There is of course no dealer on the duplicateplay; but the person corresponding to the dealer is the one sitting tothe left of the original dealer, and the leader is the player sittingnext to him to the left.

During the duplicate play, as there is no longer any need of preservingthe integrity of the several players packets, the holders may be laidaside after each player has removed from the holder in front of him thepacket therein contained, or the cards may be returned to the holder.Such removal takes place, of course, hand by hand as each hand The cardsare then placed in the is ended.

or returned to the holders. the counters may be in ordinary whist, Onthe duplicate play dispensed with and the tricks counted, or

counted with the counters originally used. The number of tricks made byeach side is entered on the scorecard in a vertical column which may beheaded Duplicate play.

Care should be taken in removing the cards from the holders not toexamine the number on the back side of the holder until the hand hasbeen played through. In my device it is not easy to examine the number,for the reason that it is entirely concealed as long as the holderisopen. Any device should be avoided which might assist the player inremembering any card which has fallen or unusual play made in theoriginal hands. When all the holders have been played through, a footingof the scorecard will indicate the winner, it now being evident thatluck has been eliminated, for each team of two players has played thesame cards which their adversaries had previously played.

lIavin g thus described my invention, what I claim to have invented, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a card-holder for playingduplicate whist,the combination with the holderproper, of a transversestrip approximately the thickness of thirteen cards secured to the faceof the holder, and a metallic spring, attached instrip and adaptedtermediate its ends to said with its free ends to clamp packages ofcards to said holder, substantially as described.

2. In a card-holder for playing duplicate whist, the combination of twowings hinged together and adapted to be folded to simulate a book andprovided on the back with a mark to designate its number so that whenopened the mark will be concealed, atransverse strip approximately thethickness of thirteen cards attached to the face of each wing, ametallic spring secured intermediate its ends to said strip and at rightangles thereto and adapted with its free ends to clamp packages of cardsto said holder, substantially as described.

3. In a card-holder for playing duplicate whist, the combination of twowings A hinged together, the longitudinal strips 13 each approximatelythe thickness of thirteen cards attached to the adjacent edges of saidwings, hinges O secured to said strips, transverse strips E attachedcentrally to the faces of said wings, a metallic spring securedintermediate its ends to each of said strips E and at right anglesthereto, said springs being adapted with their free ends to clamppackages of cards to said holder, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presenceof two witnesses.

LEIVIS IV. HEATH. [n s] lVitnesses EDWARD Taeenn'r, CHRISTOPHERHONDELINK.

